Yesterday, Bannigan appeared in a Manhattan court on felony charges of second- and third-degree grand larceny. She is accused of making unauthorised charges of over $53,000 (€45,700) on a credit card belonging to Coddington and taking $9,000 (€10,000) in commissions from the sale of Coddington's property on the luxury consignment website,The Real Real.

Bannigan is protesting her innocence, however. In court this week she turned down a plea deal that was offered, which would have left her with a misdemeanour conviction. Through her attorney, Michael Cornacchia, she has said the circumstances leading to the charges are “all a misunderstanding”.

Following Bannigan's arrest, Cornacchia told theIrish Independent: “[Bannigan] didn’t do anything wrong. This case is driven by Grace Coddington, and as such, her credibility, recollection and motives in bringing this case will be scrutinised by us and hopefully the district attorney.”

The US authorities are presenting the felony larceny case to a grand jury later today. If convicted, Bannigan could be facing up to 20 years in jail.